


dog days

by ChanyeolsRippedJeans



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Anxious Oh Sehun, Barista Kim Jongin | Kai, Beach Bum Kim Jongin, California, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Not Beta Read, Summer, but it's only weed, dogs are sehun's wingmen, just like my last fic idk what this is but i wrote it, mentions of drug use, pulled from my fic dungeon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-29
Updated: 2020-06-29
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:41:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24973261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChanyeolsRippedJeans/pseuds/ChanyeolsRippedJeans
Summary: “Get it girl, get it!” Sehun teased, tugging on the twig in Daffodil’s mouth as she growled cheerfully, her little eyes twinkling with glee. “See, you and Chicken Nugget need to work on your summer look. Get your hair toned lighter, get tan, work out. It’s summer, you have to look hot.”“Do you normally talk to your dogs like that?”-Sehun is stuck at his grandmother's beach house for the summer, sitting her trio of corgis. Unfortunately, he's bored out of his mind in her tiny beach town. Fortunately, the cute barista from Starbucks might fix that.
Relationships: Kim Jongin | Kai/Oh Sehun
Comments: 6
Kudos: 49





	dog days

**Author's Note:**

> a couple things to note before you enjoy
> 
> 1) i started writing this literally three years ago, therefore  
> a) i had no idea that kim jongdae had a lady in his life, so pls don't be offended by the mild xiuchen in this  
> b) the writing style might be everywhere, there could be cringe, who knows my life is a mystery
> 
> 2) i've tried sO HARD to try and finish this and i just cANT idk where it should end up or how it should continue, somewhat proud of it and think it's cute, so i pulled it out of my fic dungeon, so yah enjoy

Heat spilled in through Sehun’s car window, further warming his already sweaty body. It was like the sun had it out for him, beating in through driver’s side window. His t-shirt and joggers were beginning to stick to his body like cling wrap. Very humid, very uncomfortable cling-wrap. How could his grandmother live in such conditions? Sehun glanced at his dashboard’s thermometer, which announced a scorching ninety-two degrees. He wished he were back in San Francisco. The summers there never got much warmer than the seventies. Cranking the A/C as cold as it would go, Sehun prayed he made it to his grandmother’s without being cooked alive. How was he going to last an entire summer on the central coast without turning into a dinner roast? If he wasn’t pushing ninety miles an hour, he’d have ripped his shirt off by now. The worst part about Californian summers is the heat is all sun, no humidity.

  
Like a beacon in a cramped, sticky sea, Sehun saw his exit, turning right off the southbound interstate into Pismo Beach. He hadn’t been to the cove-side city since he was at least ten years old. The pastel, sun-bleached homes washed him over in childhood memories of melting ice cream and ocean breezes, salty waves the same crystalline blue as the sky. The village’s signature pier came into view, a knotted arm stretching into the ocean, as Sehun wound his way through the short streets. The town was the portrait of quaint, picturesque style. Families walked languidly down the sidewalks in the summer heat, searching for refuge in one of the town’s many ice cream parlors. Down the main boulevard, Sehun spotted the hidden bowling alley where he spent his summer days as an eight year old digging for quarters underneath arcade games. He smiled, happy to be back.

  
Soon enough, Sehun pulled curbside to his grandmother’s longstanding beach cottage. As he pulled his luggage from the trunk of his car, he observed the charming home before him. The siding was still painted a vivid blue, the deck adorned with countless seashell windchimes all the way up to the front door as he had remembered. If he squinted, he could probably see his eight year old self sat on the porch, Scooby Doo ice pop dripping down his arm.  
“Hello, my little Sehun!” His tiny, stout grandmother burst through the screen door, followed by her small army of corgis. “Oh, how you’ve grown since I’ve last seen you!” She fussed in Korean.

  
“Well I’m not in elementary school anymore,” Sehun laughed, responding in her native language. “I’m a full-grown college student now. A whole twenty years old.”  
“You’ve grown up much too fast, my little dumpling.” His grandmother pinched his cheek, opening the screen-door fully to allow Sehun to waddle inside with his bags.

  
“My cheeks aren’t chubby anymore, Nana,” Sehun whined. “I’m not cousin Minseok!”

  
“That much is true. You were more of a noodle, anyway.” His grandmother laughed while Sehun simply pouted. “Now go put your bags in the spare room, I have to get going soon.”

  
Sehun meandered down the hardwood hallway to the small guest bedroom. Nudging the door open lightly with his foot, Sehun was greeted by the small cot he spent so many young summer days sleeping in, gaudy dolphin sheets and all. Now that he was well over six feet tall, Sehun wondered how he was going to fit in the child-sized bed. Throwing his suitcase on top, he decided to deal with that prospect at a later date. Or hour, rather. Why did his grandmother still have the dolphin sheets?

  
As soon as Sehun rounded the corner back into the living room, his grandmother began rattling off his list of duties while he housesat for the summer, “The pups like to go on a w-a-l-k two or three times a day. But really, if you’re bored you can take them outside. They like car rides, too! Sometimes I load them all up in the car and take them to the drive-thru Starbucks in Arroyo Grande. The little baristas love them, and they love the puppy-ccinos! Oh, and don’t forget to water my plants! If I come back to my Christmas cactus dead, I’m telling your mother!” Sehun chuckled at that one. “Garbage comes on Wednesdays, and recycling every other Thursday. The drawer full of take-out menus is under the microwave, and the puppy food is under the sink.” Taking a second to exhale, his grandmother finished with: “Now be a dear, and help your old nana load her luggage?”

  
Like the gentleman he was, Sehun did, loading her bags into the trunk of her powder blue 1974 VW Bug. After a final hug and kiss (and cheek pinch) she was gone, leaving Sehun alone with her three corgis as his only company.

  
They were all girls, his grandmother adopting the three as a litter a few months after his grandfather had passed away. There was Lily and Daffodil and Chicken Nugget. His grandmother had wanted to name the trio after flowers, but Sehun’s older sister and nephew had gone with her for the adoption. As soon as little Joon had seen the pup, he screamed “Chicken nugget!” and so the name had stuck.

  
Sitting on the front porch steps, Sehun watched the stubby little dogs mill about in the glorified patch of grass California called a lawn. Daffodil waddled over to Sehun, nudging her damp nose against his leg. As gross as it was, it felt nice in the sweltering heat. “You’re a tubby little thing, you know that?” Daffodil stared and him with that dog look which somewhat resembled a smile. “It’s June, you gotta work on your summer bod. You’re starting a diet tomorrow.” Chicken Nugget yipped in the lawn beside him. “What’s that? You wanna go to the beach?” All three dogs turned his way. “Okay, guess we’re going to the beach.” He shrugged.  
Sehun inevitably found the dogs’ leashes by the key hook in the kitchen, rounding up the herd of pups and heading down the road to the beach. Walking three lumpy corgis was a lot harder than walking his own, singular dog, he found. He missed his own dog, his little white bichon. Maybe he could get his roommate (cousin), Minseok, to facetime Vivi for him. He’d have to text him later to arrange it.

  
Needless to say, being a twenty-year-old Korean guy walking three corgis down the Pismo Beach pier got him a lot of looks. Some confused, some unashamedly checking him out. A couple high school-looking girls stopped and asked if they could take a picture of him and the pups for Snapchat. Maybe they could be his wingmen this summer, because being a college-aged kid walking three cute dogs is either a signal for “I’m trying to get pussy” or “I’m gay and am looking for fellow gays.”

  
For Sehun, it was the latter. He dropped a handful of popcorn onto the pier for pup encouragement. “I like you guys, but I could use some humans, too.”

  
🐶

  
Sehun discovered, about an hour after trying to fall asleep, that his six-foot, one-inch frame could definitely not fit in the dolphin sheet bed. If he stretched out, his head knocked against the headboard and his feet dangled over the edge, susceptible to monsters and corgi tongues. To avoid this scenario, he’d have to fold his spine, which was uncomfortable to say the least. Six-foot men were not meant to be folded like a pair of jeans or tucked into the fetal position.  
And so, at one thirty in the morning, Sehun kicked off the dolphin sheets and padded into the living room. It was decidedly too weird to sleep in his grandmother’s bed (although the starfish quilt was tempting), so to the pull-out couch he went. This mattress was adorned with a lighthouse blanket. Sehun could live with that.  
Before shutting his eyes, Sehun stilled. In the dead of the night, without all the tourists, he could actually hear the ocean. The sound of the rolling waves on the shore, coupled with the deep blue glow seeping in from behind his grandmother’s rickety blinds, made the room feel as if it were in the center of a dream.  
Sehun was out within a matter of minutes.

  
🐶

  
At nine the next morning, Sehun was awoken by one dog licking his nose and another plopping her fat self onto his chest. Honestly, who could ask for a better alarm clock? “Lily, Lily, stop it, girl!” He giggled, brain still dealing with the sunshine filtering in through the windows. Lily stopped slobbering all over his nose, but Chicken Nugget did not refrain from farting on top of him. “Aw, gross!” Chicken Nugget quirked her head. What a sarcastic excuse for an apology.  
Sehun gingerly lifted Chicken Nugget, placing her on the floor to chase her sisters. He padded his way into the kitchen to feed both the pups and himself. After giving the dogs their kibble, Sehun was disappointed to find that his grandmother only had a stale box of Special K and a half empty carton of almond milk as breakfast items. And Sehun was allergic to almonds, which left him only with the Special K. “Hey, guys,” Sehun turned to the dogs as he closed the fridge. “You like Starbucks, right?”

  
The pups just stared at him with their doggy grins. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

  
After throwing on a tank top and a pair of shorts, Sehun round up the dogs into his car for a short drive to Starbucks. He quickly learned that driving alone with three small dogs is a bit chaotic, but it was all worth it to see the smiles on the baristas’ faces when he rolled up with them.

  
“Aww, you have such cute dogs!” The barista cooed as Sehun handed him his credit card. “What are their names?”

  
“Daffodil, Lily, and- Chicken Nugget, no!” Sehun leaped to stop the pup from leaping through his car window, his seatbelt locking over his shoulders.

  
“Chicken Nugget?” The barista pondered, handing Sehun his cheese danish. “Wait, aren’t those Mrs. Oh’s corgis?”

  
“Yeah, I’m her grandson.” Sehun explained. “She’s going on a girls’ summer trip to Cancun, so I offered to house-sit, and well, dog-sit too I guess.”

  
“Of course she’s going to Cancun!” The barista laughed. “Your grandmother is one of my favorite customers. She’s so eccentric.”

  
“That she is.” Sehun agreed.

  
“Here’s your caramel macchiato.” The barista said, reaching the cup out to Sehun. “So, I’ll be seeing you instead of your grandmother this summer?”

  
“Yeah,” Sehun said, sipping his beverage. “She didn’t leave me any food, and I’m too lazy to go grocery shopping. So I’ll likely be here.”

  
“Well if you ever want any extra caramel for free, just mention me.” The barista smiled. Damn, he has quite the adorable smile, Sehun noted. “My name’s Jongin.”

  
“And I’m Sehun.”

  
🐶

  
“Minseok,” Sehun whined, sagging over the edge of his pull-out bed. “Let me see my dog!”

  
“Really Sehun, I’m quite offended that you’d Facetime me just to talk to Vivi.” Minseok chided, walking through their kitchen back in SanFran. “Don’t you care about my life now that you’ve left me here all alone?”

  
“You’re not alone,” Sehun mumbled. “You have Jongdae. And my dog.”

  
“Jongdae’s got an important meeting at work coming up, so I haven’t seen much of him lately,” Minseok sighed, laying across his own bed. “But Vivi has in fact been keeping me company. It’s like he knows I miss Jongdae and he misses you, so he licks my feet a lot. It’s gross and adorable at the same time.”

  
“I told Vivi to keep his foot fetish to himself,” Sehun grumbled.

  
“You treat your dog too much like a child.”

  
“Shut up and let me see my baby.”

  
“Fine.” Minseok sighed. “Vivi! C’mere boy!” He angled his phone to the floor so Sehun could watch his fluffy pup skid across the carpet to the foot of Minseok’s bed. Daffodil, who was sat near Sehun’s pillow, lifted her head curiously. “Look, it’s your dad!” Vivi quirked his head.

  
“Baby!! Hi baby!! It’s daddy!!” Sehun waved into his camera gleefully. “Look at you, so handsome!!” Vivi quirked his head to the other side. “Yes, look at you!! Daddy misses you!!” Vivi yipped. “Aww, you miss me too? Well, don’t worry because Daddy will be home by the end of summer and he’ll make sure to call you as often as he can, okay?” Vivi plopped to the carpet with a sigh.

  
“Don’t forget about me, dingbat.” Minseok interjected.

  
“Yeah, I guess I’ll call you too.” Sehun rolled his eyes.

  
“Well, you’ll have to if you want to see your precious baby.” Minseok flipped the camera back to himself, brushing his hair out of his face as a text buzzed through. “Oh, it’s Jongdae! He’s on his way over so I guess I oughta go now.”

  
“Please don’t fuck your boyfriend on my bed.” Sehun requested in a sardonic tone.

  
“Okay, look, that was one time and we were both drunk.” Minseok sighed. “I know where my room is now.”

  
“Good,” Sehun said. “I guess I’ll let you go now so you can prepare for Jongdae’s arrival.”

  
“Shut up, Sehun,” Minseok laughed. “Yeah, see you later, then. Bye.”

  
“Later, dude. Bye.” Sehun said as he hung up his phone. He opened his photo app and flipped through his vast collection of selfies to find a picture of his dog. Lifting the phone to Daffodil’s face, he asked. “This is my dogger. Do you think he’s cute?” Daffodil sniffed the screen suspiciously. “He’s nice. Maybe you can make some cute half-corgi puppers together.” Daffodil barked.

  
“Damn, okay.” Sehun flopped back down onto the mattress. “Just a no would’ve been fine.”

  
🐶

  
“Do you guys wanna eat on the patio today?” Sehun asked the corgis the next morning. “I don’t feel like sitting in the drive thru and trying to eat my danish while driving.” Lily stretched herself across Sehun’s center console while Chicken Nugget pressed her nose into the passenger’s side window. Daffodil was somewhere in the backseat the last Sehun knew. “Sounds good, all right.”

  
Sehun turned into the Starbucks parking lot, and upon seeing the line for the drive thru, he decided they’d made a good decision.  
“I hope the line in the lobby isn’t this long.” Sehun mumbled, fastening leashes to the pups’ collars. “Daffodil, where’d you go?” The dog in question popped her head from the mass collection of sweatshirts in Sehun’s backseat. “Oh, there you are.” Sehun reached back to lift the dog into his lap. “I was gonna finally get around to cleaning that out, but if you like it so much, I’ll have to keep it.”

  
After rounding his pups together, Sehun guided them through the parking lot to one of the outdoor patio tables. He tied the leashes to the table’s stand, ensuring his grandmother’s precious dogs wouldn’t get loose. “Okay, I’ll be right back with your puppy drinks. And my own breakfast. Please behave and don’t take any candy from strangers.” He patted each of the corgis on the head before stepping inside.

  
Hardly any line. Perfect.

  
Sehun ordered himself another caramel macchiato and cheese danish, as well as three puppy-ccinos for the dogs. He glanced around the store casually, spotting the nice barista from the day before still stuck taking orders in the drive thru. He still thought the guy had an attractive smile. What was his name again? Jong-something? Definitely not Jongdae, he knew that much. Sehun wasn’t exactly an expert in the field of Remembering Names.

  
“Did you need your receipt, sir?”

  
Sehun snapped out of it, not even realizing he’d been staring at Jong-whatever. “Oh, no, sorry, that’s fine.” He awkwardly shuffled away, but not before throwing a few dollar bills into the tip jar.

  
Five and a half minutes later, Sehun stepped back into the sizzling summer heat with his breakfast, or sugar sustenance rather. “One for you, one for you, and one for you.” He mumbled, placing the tiny Starbucks cups in front of each of the pups. He then sat in the wrought-iron seat nearest them, taking a sip of his macchiato. “I know I said you needed to work on your summer bod, Daffodil, but I think you can start tomorrow.” Said pup dumped her nose straight into the paper cup.

  
And thus, Sehun was left to contemplate his summer.

  
Here he was, a five-hour drive from home, in a town he hadn’t visited in maybe ten years (gosh, ten years made him feel a hell of a lot older than twenty), no longer had friends whose homes he could just show up to, and no job. Which reminded him he needed to find a job. Sehun looked through the window into the Starbucks. Maybe they were hiring. Coffee didn’t seem too hard. He’d make money and maybe at least one friend. Continuing to stare through the glass, Sehun watched as Jong-whatever crossed through the café and out the door oh shit, was he coming out here?

  
“Hey, it’s Sehun, right?” Shit he was.

  
“Yeah, it is.” Sehun said. “I’m sorry, but the last half your last name is escaping me, Jong-question-mark.”

  
“Jongin,” He laughed. “It’s hot out here and I wanted to make sure your dogs got some water.” Jongin must’ve realized how that might sound, so he quickly added, “Not saying that you don’t take care of your dogs, I mostly just wanted a reason to come and pet them.” He gingerly sat a brown Starbucks oatmeal bowl of water onto the pavement, full on giggling as the pups fought over who got the first sip. Sehun tried not to consider his laugh adorable. “What are their names again? I only remember Chicken Nugget.”

  
“The one with the purple collar is Lily, the yellow is Daffodil, and the pink is-”

  
“Chicken Nugget!” Jongin smiled.

  
Sehun nodded, fighting back a slight chuckle, but failing.

  
Jongin laughed, straight from his belly, and Sehun would be lying if he said he hadn’t smiled. “That’s amazing, I love it! I love her!” Deciding to just sit on the pavement in place of an actual chair, Jongin cuddled up to Chicken Nugget, scratching behind her ears. “Chicken Nugget!”

  
“So you like dogs?” Sehun queried, trying to make some conversation. Like remembering names, Sehun is also not an expert in the field of Small Talk.

  
“Yeah, I love them!” Jongin smiled. “That’s why I always ask to work the drive-thru window; so I can see everyone’s dogs.”

  
“Sounds like you have a pretty good gig, then.”

  
“Oh, I definitely do!” Jongin said, scratching under Daffodil’s chin. “I have a dog of my own named Monggu and I miss him when I’m at work.”

  
Without hesitation, Sehun sat his danish back into its paper bag, reaching into his pocket to retrieve his phone. Opening his photo app, he held the screen to Jongin’s face. “This is my son, his name is Vivi. He’s back at home in San Francisco.”

  
“I was expecting pictures of a baby,” Jongin giggled as Sehun returned his phone to his pocket. “But your Vivi is just as cute!”

  
“Thanks, he takes after his dad. Which is me.” Sehun jested. “But if I had a baby, there’d be a lot of biological questioning going on.” He said pointedly.

Jongin giggled, giving him a _look._ "Nice."   
  
Jongin checked his own phone, glancing at the time. “Aw, it looks like my ten minutes is almost up.” He stood from the pups, brushing their fur from his (very nice fitting) khakis. “Thanks for letting me pet your dogs!”

  
“Yeah, no problem. They like the attention.”

  
“Will I see them tomorrow?” Looking into Jongin’s eyes, Sehun could tell the question was aimed more at him rather than his grandmother’s corgis.

“Yeah.”

  
🐶

  
“Have you made any friends yet?” A few days later as the sun went down, Sehun was sat back on his grandmother’s porch, watching the pups fight over a rope toy and a tennis ball. His headphones were connected to his cell as he chatted nonchalantly with Minseok, passing the time as best he could.

  
“I’m Sehun Oh, did you expect me to?”

  
“Not exactly, but you’ve been gone for almost a whole week and I’m trying to make some conversation.” Minseok laughed. “Have you been to the beach at least? You’re what, five hundred feet away?”

  
“I’ve walked the dogs along the pier,” He shrugged. “This guy down at the AG Starbucks really likes them.” Sehun jumped as Minseok yelped into his ear. “Aish, you idiot!”

  
“You didn’t tell me you’d try to get some ass this summer!” Minseok cheered.

  
“Okay, first of all, I’m not trying to, but I wouldn’t complain if I did.” Sehun explained. “Second, I like how me even mentioning another human male equates to me trying to get some. Third, I said ‘guy,’ and ‘guy’ could mean anything from a sixteen year old to a sixty year old.”

  
“Well how old is he, do you know?” Minseok questioned excitedly.

  
“I dunno,” Sehun licked his bottom lip. He really didn’t know how old Jongin was. “He has a face that says ‘twenty-five,’ but a personality that screams, ‘seventeen.’”

  
“So your age?”

  
“Yeah, probably.” Sehun shrugged. “He works in the morning, so he’s obviously not a high schooler.”

  
“Well, is he cute?” Pried Minseok.

  
“Um,” Sehun began. Jongin was tall, his hair was a deep chestnut color, always straight and styled nicely, he dressed well from what Sehun could see, but that could just be the Starbucks dress code coming into play. Yet, when it came to Minseok’s query of cuteness, all that Sehun could bring to mind was Jongin’s sweet smile and adorable personality. Wait, did Sehun just consider Jongin adorable? “Yeah, I guess he’s cute.”

  
“Sehun, I know you’re lying.” Minseok chided. “You don’t guess he’s cute, you know he’s cute.”

  
“I never said that.”

  
“Sehunnie, you supposed Luhan was cute and you ended up dating for two years.”

  
“I don’t know where you’re receiving this information from, but it is inaccurate. I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to cut this interview short.”

  
“Sehu-”

  
And Sehun hung up on Minseok. Drawing his headphones from his ears, he called out to the pups, “You girls wanna go for a romantic, evening stroll along the beach?”

  
The three dogs turned to him, Lily yipping a supposed yes.

  
“Alright, well, let me go get your leashes then.”

  
🐶

  
The next morning, Daffodil licked Sehun’s toes, awakening him at ten. After rolling out of bed and throwing on a light hoodie and shorts, he loaded the pups back into his car and made his daily commute to Starbucks. The line was quite short this morning, so Sehun decided to go back through the drive thru. Not because of Jongin or anything.

  
But that’s not to say he wasn’t at least a little bit disappointed when he got to the window and didn’t see the barista with the dazzling smile.  
“Is Jongin not working today?” Sehun casually asked as he handed the barista his credit card.

  
“No, he doesn’t normally work on the weekends!” The barista smiled. Her hair was long and black, pulled back into a ponytail. Her nametag read Yeri.

  
“Aw, okay.” Sehun said, reaching forward to retrieve his danish. “Well tell him my dogs miss him.”

  
The barista giggled. “Will do.” She smiled. “I have to say, it’s usually older ladies that ask about our boy Jongin when he’s not here. Not young, attractive boys like you.”

  
“Oh,” Sehun replied, feeling his face warm up just a tad. “That’s interesting.”

  
“Did you want puppy-ccinos for your dogs?” She asked.

  
“I think they’d pee in my shoes if they didn’t get any.” Sehun replied.

  
And so Sehun pulled out of the drive-thru with his usual morning sugar, three cups of whipped cream, and a twinge of disappointment. Maybe he had been looking forward to Jongin’s smile and casual banter, maybe even an invitation to slip into the parking lot for his break so he could pet the dogs again. Sehun bit into his danish bitterly.

  
“You guys wanna go to the dog beach?” Sehun turned to his pups, each of which had whipped cream all over their snouts. “Yeah? Okay.”

  
He drove on just past his usual exit into Pismo Beach, getting off a few exits later. The drive just along the sandy shores was pleasant, the little square houses and tall, bending royal palms almost made Sehun think he was in a movie. He had to admit, the central coast was as beautiful as it was hot.

  
Confused as to why they were in the car longer than usual, the pups yipped in Sehun’s ear until he reached the designated dog beach. “Aish, you little divas, you can be quiet now. We’re here.” Sehun leashed each of the pups and guided them from the car. They could smell the ocean, Sehun knew, as the herd jumped, yipped, and tugged their way down the plank steps and towards the sea. He swore he heard a pop in his shoulder as they lunged forwards towards the waves.

“Nana never takes you here, does she?” Sehun asked, rubbing his shoulder as the three finally stopped to dig in the sand. “Let me unclip you guys quick, then you can go have some fun in the water. You girls just took me for a walk, it’s supposed to be the other way around.”

  
As soon as each of the little dogs were freed from their leashes, they flung like darts into the water. It was certainly hilarious, Sehun thought, to watch three chubby little corgis splash and trip about in the ocean. Who would’ve thought these thicc little pups would ever make it into the ocean?

  
He laughed, sitting down in the sand to watch the pups play. He observed them friskily bite at each other in jest, jumping around with other dogs, and laughed when Daffodil came up to Sehun with a twig of driftwood, which he threw back and forth with her into the water.

  
“Get it girl, get it!” Sehun teased, tugging on the twig in Daffodil’s mouth as she growled cheerfully, her little eyes twinkling with glee. “See, you and Chicken Nugget need to work on your summer look. Get your hair toned lighter, get tan, work out. It’s summer, you have to look hot.”

  
“Do you normally talk to your dogs like that?”

  
Startled, Sehun let go of the stick, which Daffodil happily took back into the sea.

  
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” Sehun looked up to see Jongin standing over him, and honestly, fuck if he didn’t look like some sort of beachy angel. He wore khaki shorts and hemp shoes with a dark patterned baja hoodie on top. His hood was up, and his hair was down, unlike how it normally looked in his Starbucks quiff, and the wind had whipped it about his forehead like a halo. This look, coupled with his wide, beaming smile, made Sehun’s heart pound just a little bit harder. “Mind if I sit?” Shit, Sehun was staring.

  
“Uh, no, that’s fine.” Sehun broke his gaze, deciding to watch as his pups chased each other in a circle along the shore. Jongin took the invitation, sitting next to him in the sand. Jongin whistled out to his right, a little brown poodle traipsed over to his side. “Dog,” Sehun said, his eyes wide.

  
Jongin laughed, loud, and Sehun decided that it, too, was as lethal as his smile. “Yeah, this is my dog.” He smiled. “You showed me pictures of your son, so I’d like to introduce you to mine. Sehun, this is Monggu.”

  
Sehun reached into the sand, grasping Monggu’s paw between his index finger and thumb. “Charmed.” He said, shaking hands with the pup. Monggu quirked his head. Sehun blinked. “I hope he likes me. I take it personally if a dog doesn’t like me.”

  
“I’m sure he does,” He smiled. “Go on, boy,” He pointed towards the water, Monggu yipping and running excitedly towards Sehun’s corgis.

  
“So you don’t work on weekends?” Sehun asked, attempting to keep the conversation flowing.

  
“No, I’m one of the lucky few that has them off.” Jongin dug his hand underneath the sand, lifting it up to let it run off the sides of his fingers like waterfalls. “I’m taking some summer classes at the community college here, so I do some homework, bring Monggu here, and work shifts at my parents’ shop if they need me to.”

  
“What kind of classes do you take?” Sehun watched the sand slide off Jongin’s hand. Jongin definitely spent a lot of time at the beach- he hadn’t noticed just how tan he was. His hands were quite dark, well, compared to Sehun’s skin at least. Sehun, admittedly, was quite pale.

  
“Just my gen ed stuff for now, but I do a lot of dance.” Jongin said. His voice was soft, and Sehun started to realize how easy it was to talk to him. Aside from Minseok, his obligatory friend borne from family, friends were few. Talking to people wasn’t the easiest thing to do, but Sehun decided that he liked talking to Jongin. “I’m trying to get into PCPA.”

  
“Pacific Coast Performing Arts,” Sehun’s eyebrows raised. “That’d be cool if you got in.”

  
Jongin smiled. “I hope I do. I’ve been dancing my whole life and can’t think of anything else I’d rather do.”

  
“That’s really nice.” Sehun hoped that sounded like a compliment. “What kind of dance do you do?”

  
“Ballet, mostly.” Jongin began, stuffing his hand back in the sand. “But I’ve done a lot of contemporary and some hip-hop, too.”

  
“I challenge you to a dance-off,” Sehun said.

  
“You dance?” Now it was Jongin’s turn to look surprised. The sand shot off his hand in one big wave.

  
“Just hip-hop,” Sehun shrugged. “I’ve been doing it since I was, like, ten maybe? I’m alright I guess.” Sehun dug his own hand into the sand this time. The sand was warm. He kept his hand beneath the surface for a while. “Probably not as good as you.” Sehun peeked at Jongin from the corner of his eye. His long hair was billowing up around his hood.

  
“Well, we’ll find that out during this dance-off you’ve proposed.” Maybe it was the sun, but Sehun thought he saw Jongin wink. “But hip-hop only, because I don’t think it would be nice of me to kick your ass at dance if all genres are allowed.” His hand disappeared under the sand again.

  
“Yeah, that’s what you think.” Sehun scoffed playfully. “What do you do at your parents’ shop? You said they have a shop.” Sehun lifted his own hand, watching the sand spill from over his hand.

  
“Yeah, they have a little café thing near the beach. They sell some Korean food, but mostly they just sell boba.”

  
Sehun’s head shot up. “Boba?”

  
“Yeah,” Jongin giggled. “Do you like boba?”

  
“Jongin, I want to go to your parents’ boba shop.”

🐶

  
Sehun sat in the blue, white, and yellow café of Jongin’s family shop, admiring how aesthetically pleasing the atmosphere was. He leaned down, taking a massive gulp of his rose milk boba, his eyes rolling back in pleasure.

  
Jongin cackled across the table from him. If Sehun had no self-control, he just might say that Jongin’s laugh was contagious. “I’ve never seen someone so happy to be drinking boba.”

  
“Jongin, you don’t understand,” Sehun placed a hand over his heart. “Boba runs through my veins. If I don’t have boba, I’ll die.”

  
Jongin raised a brow. “Then how did you last the whole week you were here without boba?” He questioned.

  
“I was on my last few breaths, Jongin.” Sehun explained. “I was near death, and you saved me.”

  
“Well, I’m glad to have been your hero, then.” Jongin chuckled. The two heard some yipping outside, where their pups were tied to a bike rack with a bowl full of water (Jongin’s mother didn’t allow dogs inside the café. It was almost heretic). Sehun stood, making sure they weren’t causing any trouble or fighting. Luckily, they weren’t. Chicken Nugget was licking Monggu’s ear while Lily and Daffodil were busy swatting their paws in the bowl of water, looking happier than ever. “It looks like our kids are getting along.”

  
“They aren’t my kids,” Sehun said, taking a long sip of his boba. “They’re more like my nieces. My baby is back up in SanFran.”

  
“Do you miss San Francisco?” Jongin asked, digging his straw inside his own slushie. “It’s my turn to question you now.” He smirked.

  
“I mean, I guess.” Sehun shrugged. “The weather is nicer there. I live with my cousin and my baby, and I can go to my parents if I want food that I don’t have to cook myself or buy.” This made Jongin laugh. “I would say school, too, but it’s summer so school doesn’t count.”

  
“What’s your cousin’s name?” He asked.

  
“Minseok and Jongdae.”

  
“That’s two names.”

  
“Yeah, my cousin is Minseok and his boyfriend is Jongdae. They’re kind of bound at the hip.”

  
“Ah, I see.” Jongin said. “How old are they?”

  
“Minseok is twenty-eight and Jongdae is twenty-six.” Sehun continued. “I love Minseok but Jongdae doesn’t know how to shut up.” Jongin laughed again.

  
“How old are you, Sehun?” Jongin smiled, resting his chin in his hands. “I don’t know that yet.”

  
“I’m nineteen.” Sehun replied. “What about you?”

  
“I’m twenty,” Jongin smiled. “You’re a baby.”

  
“Aish, just barely.” Sehun moaned. “A whole year; you’re so much older and wiser.”

  
Jongin laughed again, loud. “Okay, okay.” He giggled. “What about school? What do you do?”

  
“I was undecided this year- my first year- but I’m probably going to go with finance. It’s easy and I can make a lot of money with it. I’m minoring in dance though, because I like it.”

  
“That’s nice,” Jongin smiled, and Sehun could tell it was genuine. “What about friends?”

  
“I don’t really have any.” Sehun shrugged, arms crossed. He could see something change in Jongin’s eyes. “I’m not the best at talking to people, I guess. There’s this guy, Chanyeol, that I roomed with and we’d go to parties and stuff, but I don’t think he counts as a friend.”

  
“No friends from high school or anything?” Jongin said, his tone soft.

  
“Nah,” Sehun shrugged. “There were people I talked to in my classes and everything. I had a small group of close acquaintances, I guess they were friends. But as usual, we graduated and stopped talking.”

  
“Well, if you suck at making friends, how’d you end up here right now?” Jongin teased. “You practically begged me to bring you here.”

  
Sehun blinked. Jongin was…different, as he had ascertained earlier. “I dunno.” Sehun said, blinking again, and looking up to Jongin. “I swear I usually suck at talking to people.”

“Well then I guess I’m your friend now,” Jongin smiled. He finally dropped his hood, running his hand through his messy hair, doing nothing to calm it and everything to make it look even more scraggily. It was incredibly endearing to see.

  
“Well darn my socks and call me the luckiest man in Pismo.” Sehun said, lips just barely forming a smile.

  
Jongin snorted, smile wide and eyes scrunched closed. “You’re pretty funny, Sehun. I don’t think you give yourself enough credit. I’m glad I’ve gotten to know you, honestly.”

  
Sehun was at a loss for words, warmth spreading across his cheeks. He took another long sip of his boba, chewing on the tapioca bits. “Uh, thanks.” He started. “I guess it’s kinda hard to show that through fifteen second interactions in a drive thru every day.”

  
“You’re definitely not the average customer,” Jongin smiled. “I hope we can keep hanging out and make your summer less boring.”

  
“As long as I make your summer less boring, too.”

  
🐶

  
Sehun sat inside his car, Lily in his lap, licking his right ear. “Do I go in, or do I just stick with the drive thru?” He asked the pups. “Jongin wants to be my friend, but would going inside look too weird? Would going through the drive thru be rude? Aish, this is so hard.” Sehun flopped his head back onto his headrest. Friendship was a difficult concept to master, and Sehun was far from being an expert at it. “What do I do?” Chicken Nugget yipped. “Going home would be too rude and a cop out, Nug. That is not an option today.”

  
Wanting to be included, and perhaps pet, Daffodil wiggled onto Sehun’s lap. Propping herself up onto his steering wheel, she lifted herself up to get a view out of the windshield, simultaneously setting off Sehun’s horn. “Yup, okay, come on, we can’t stay inside this car.” Sehun said as he frantically began leashing the pups together. Once outside the car, Sehun gently scolded Daffodil. “Thank you for helping me decide, but did you really have to do that?” He grumbled. Daffodil looked pleased with herself. “Stay here, I’ll be back in a minute.” Sehun leaned down to tie the pups to a table, giving them each a soft pat on the head before walking inside.

  
The café was relatively slow today, a steady line stretched beside the windows. As it was a summer Monday, the few people ahead of him in line were sporting button-ups and clean-pressed pants, leather messenger bags slung over their shoulders and folders thick with files in their hands. Sehun seemed a bit...out of place.

  
“Hey, Sehun! I see you chose to come inside today!” The barista at the register smiled. She was the girl, Yeri, from the other day when Jongin wasn’t at the window.

“Yeah, I decided to switch things up.” He replied, suddenly turning red in the face. Shit, he’d been found out, hadn’t he? Damn Starbucks baristas and their good memories.

  
“Just your usual today?” Yeri asked, smiling.

  
“Yeah,” Sehun nodded, looking for Jongin as he handed Yeri his credit card. There he was, working the window as he always did. Damn, maybe he should’ve gone through the drive thru. Oh, well.

  
“Jongin will have your pup cups, he’s going on his break in a few minutes.” Yeri winked, a coy look on her face. Shit, yeah, he’d been found out. She held out his warm cheese danish. Sehun quickly grabbed it from her hand.

  
“Uh, thanks.” Sehun muttered, face suddenly blazing, as he tried to casually walk away. He propped the door open with his foot, setting his danish down on the iron table where his pups were waiting for their cups of whipped cream. “Not yet, ladies. I have to go back inside.” He tried to keep the horde of dogs from jumping up on him and scratching his legs. Or, well, ankles, rather. “Down, down. Behave, ladies.”

  
“So you do talk to your dogs like that,” Mortified, Sehun swung around to see Jongin standing behind him, three cups of whip in one hand and two drinks precariously lodged between his arm and chest.

  
Once the sudden surprise dissipated, Sehun scowled. “Maybe I do, but at least I don’t scare my friends.” He nipped playfully, reaching out to take the two drinks out from under his arm. It was awkward, and Sehun was now at least 2384% more embarrassed about being near Jongin.

  
“Oh wow, Sehun used the ‘F’ word,” Jongin teased. His smirk should be illegal. A war crime.

  
“Fuck?” Sehun blurted. Jongin’s eyes widened. Sehun hadn’t yet sworn in front of him. The seconds ticked by and Sehun wanted to suck himself into a vacuum. He cleared his throat. “Um, thanks for bringing me my drink.”

  
Jongin burst into laughter, sitting down and trying to catch his breath. “You looked so scared there for a second.” He giggled, setting the three cups of whip on the ground for the pups to enjoy. “I didn’t know you could swear, but I’m honestly not surprised. You’re like a cat. Cuddly, but could also probably kill someone.”

“Keep teasing me, and I’ll kill you.” Sehun said, taking a sip of his drink. Jongin just rolled his eyes, resting his cheek against his hand.

  
“I wouldn’t put it past you,” Jongin began. “If I didn’t get the feeling that you’d have an anxiety attack in the middle of murdering me.” Shit, Jongin had him pegged.

  
“I’m not saying anything.” Sehun said, taking another sip of his macchiato. His RBF was cracking.

  
Jongin just stared at him, eyebrows raised. “You don’t have to be so nervous around me, you know. We’re bros.” He smiled. “I don’t bite,” He took a sip of his own drink, some iced thing. “Unless you’re into that,” Jongin shrugged. Sehun choked on his drink.

  
“I don’t know what kind of bros bite each other,” Sehun coughed. “But you are not biting me.”

  
“Well, you’ve obviously not met my friend, Baekhyun,” Jongin smiled.

  
“I guess I haven’t,” Sehun responded, eyebrows raised.

  
“I should introduce you two sometime,” Jongin grinned as he checked his phone. “But darn, it looks like my break is over already.”

  
“Tragic.” Sehun said, sipping his macchiato.

  
Jongin chuckled again. “It really is, Sehun.” Suddenly, he squinted, leaning in towards Sehun’s cup.

  
“What?” Sehun asked, sinking back into his chair.

  
“There’s something on your cup, there.” Jongin poked the side of Sehun’s cup, a glint in his eyes.

  
Confused, Sehun turned his cup around, and sure enough, there was something scrawled on the side.

  
Sehun had never so quickly dissolved into a sweaty, blushing mess in his life. He shot his head up, ready to question Jongin, but he had already managed to maneuver himself back inside the café. “What the fuck,” He whispered down to his pups. “Is this?” Chicken Nugget licked his hand.

  
The fucker had left his number.

  
🐶

  
“I have cavities, Sehun.” Minseok said over the phone. “That’s gotta be the cutest shit I’ve ever heard.”

  
“Yeah, well, you have cavities and I have a headache.” Sehun grumbled, head slung over the edge of his pull-out bed. Daffodil was sniffing his hair.

  
“I don’t get what the big deal is,” Minseok said. “It seems like he likes you, go for it.”

  
“Yeah, but like,” Sehun paused, sighing. “I don’t know what to do. I haven’t dated anyone for two years now.”

  
“Take him on a date. Allow him to take you on a date. Kiss him.” Minseok responded.

  
“Kiss him?” Sehun asked, dumbfounded. “I’ve only known him for like five minutes.”

  
“Well then maybe wait on that part, then.” Minseok acquiesced. “Just do what you feel comfortable with.”

  
Sehun was silent, reaching his arm above (over?) his head to pet Daffodil.

  
“You do like him back, right?” Minseok asked, a slight tease in his words. “That is, if he likes you.”

  
Sehun pondered for a moment. Did he? He shouldn’t allow Minseok’s words to sway him. Then again… “I do look forward to seeing him every day. But I can’t tell if that’s because I like him or because he’s the only person I know here besides these dogs.”

  
“Do what you feel is right, Sehunnie.” Minseok said fondly. “Just keep in mind that it’s summer and you deserve to have some fun.”

  
Sehun hummed in response. Maybe, just maybe, Minseok is right.

  
“Well, I gotta go.” Minseok sighed. “Jongdae and I are going to the movies!” Sure enough, Sehun could hear the man’s signature high-pitched voice shouting in the background for his boyfriend to hurry up.

  
“Hey, you didn’t let me see Vivi!” Sehun whined.

  
“He’s asleep right now, but I’ll send you a picture.” Minseok promised.

  
“You better.”

  
“I will.”

  
“Bye, have fun, and use protection.”

  
“You’re gross.”

  
“And you’re grosser.”

  
Sehun hung up, tossing his phone on the floor beside him. He hadn’t texted Jongin yet, unsure of just what to say. Hey? What’s up? Hi, it’s Sehun? Ya like memes? He was really having trouble deciding.

  
Just then, his phone buzzed. Grumbling and having difficulty maneuvering his hand in his current position, he managed to grasp his phone without dropping it on his face. Opening the message, he was happy to see several photos of Vivi napping on Minseok’s bed.

  
_Sehun: asshole, vivi was right there and you wouldn’t let me see him_

  
_Minseok: sorry I was too lazy to angle my phone 2 inches to the left_

  
_Sehun: I hate you_

  
_Minseok: shouldn’t you be texting someone else right now?_ 😉

  
Why did Minseok know him so well?

  
_Sehun: shut_

  
After a brief pause, Sehun hovered his finger over the back button on his messaging screen. He had already input Jongin’s number into his contacts list, anticipating that at some point he would muster up the courage to message him. He inhaled, calming himself before tapping “New Recipient.”

  
_Sehun: hey_

  
Backspace, backspace, backspace.

  
_Sehun: hi its sehun_

  
Backspace, backspace, backspace.

  
_Sehun: hey jogin its sehun_

  
Backspace, backspace, backspace.

  
_Sehun: sup_  
_Message Sent_

  
Freaking out internally, Sehun chucked his phone across the bed. “Who wants to go for a walk?” He said aloud, causing the pups to yip with excitement. “I think we should go for a walk!” He sat up, brushing the dog hair from his black sweatpants before walking to the front door to fetch the leashes. After leashing up the dogs, he briefly debated taking his phone with him. But no. Too risky. He wanted to put off checking it as long as possible. And so, he led the puppers from his grandmother’s house and out to the main drag of Pismo.

  
Somehow, texting Jongin was much more intimidating than talking to him. Via text, he had to actually come up with responses rather than say what was on his mind and let his body language do all the work. Talking to Jongin was just so much easier, and maybe that’s why Sehun liked him.

  
Standing at a stop sign, Sehun came to the realization that he did like Jongin. It was Minseok’s fault, clearly. Sehun could admit it: yes, he liked him. But why? He couldn’t put his finger on it. With all his other past crushes (and could he even consider Jongin a crush at this point?) he knew why he liked them. Physical attraction, good personality, the basics. Was Jongin good-looking? That was easy, of course he was. Anyone with eyes could tell that Jongin was a solid ten. Was he funny? Yeah, Sehun supposed Jongin could be considered funny. He was nice, they had (seemingly) similar interests.

  
But those reasons weren’t entirely why Sehun liked Jongin. He pondered more as he walked along the pier, tugging on Lily’s leash as she tried to slip her head between the slats of the wooden railing.

  
Once the pups were good and tired out from their walk, it was nearing sundown and Sehun still couldn’t decide on why he liked Jongin. Walking back up the front steps of his grandmother’s little blue house, Sehun was hit with an epiphany of sorts.

  
Maybe he liked Jongin because he couldn’t find a reason behind his feelings.

  
It was something new.

  
And then he was more scared than before.

  
🐶

  
Sehun woke up the next morning with a weight on his back. Three weights to be precise. They were all corgis, draped over his shoulders and down his spine. He instinctively reached underneath his pillow to retrieve his phone to find what time it was. However, his phone was not underneath his pillow. Sehun groaned, realizing that his phone had to be wherever he had flung it the evening prior. “Excuse me, ladies, but I need you to get up so I can find my phone.” He grumbled to the dogs. And because they are dogs, they did not understand him and did not get up off his back. Sehun grumbled some more and leaned up, startling the dogs and causing them to awaken and scramble to the more stable nest of his bed. He yawned, rubbing his eyes with the heel of his palm before stretching his arms high above his head.

  
Now, he thought, where was his phone?

  
He looked beneath his pillows, as he remembered it skittering across his mattress. After lifting up his pillows-which were, in fact, adorned with starfish pillowcases- he found no trace of his phone. He sighed, leaning over his pull-out bed, where he found his phone resting against the back frame of the couch, smack dab in the middle. Grumbling, he laid himself down on the floor and stretched his arm as far as it could go, only to have his fingertips just barely brush against the screen of his phone.

  
“Well fuck, I’m an idiot,” he sighed, cheek against the carpet. Chicken Nugget scampered over, licking the exposed and vulnerable side of his face. “Gross!” He exclaimed, shooting himself upright to wipe away at his cheek and jaw. In that moment, Chicken Nugget wriggled herself beneath Sehun’s bed, backing herself out a few seconds later, Sehun’s phone in her mouth. Completely bemused, Sehun’s mouth was slightly agape. “Well would you look at that,” He laughed, scratching behind the good girl’s ears, “You’re not completely useless.” He winked. “You aren’t useless anyway. You’re my niece. Well, one of three.”

  
Picking up his phone, he sucked in a deep breath before unlocking the screen. He saw that it was 9:57am and that he had a multimedia text message from Minseok and three texts from Jongin. Being the avoidant person he was, he went straight to reading Minseok’s message, which was a picture of Vivi in a frilly pink dog dress with the caption: _“Jongdae and I took him to PetSmart and he peed on this, so we had to buy it.”_

  
Sehun chuckled, saving the photo to his camera roll before making it his lockscreen.

  
Then, knowing he couldn’t avoid it any longer, he opened the messages from Jongin.

  
_Sehun: sup_

  
_Jongin Starbucks: sehun?? hi!_

  
_Jongin: I’m glad you texted me haha, I was afraid you wouldn’t because you’re apparently scared of me_ 😉

  
_Jongin: yep, this is definitely you lol. It’s morning and you haven’t texted me back. I kind of told my friends about you and they’d love to meet you. We’re going to pismo bowl tonight at 8, I hope you can make it!_

  
Sehun’s heart immediately leapt into his throat. Friends? Jongin’s friends? They knew about him? Jongin’s told his friends about Sehun? The ludicrousness of the idea-and the necessary anxiety-made Sehun’s head spin. He didn’t know what to do, other than toss on a shirt, round up his pups, and head over to Starbucks.

  
🐶

  
The drive to Starbucks was quiet, save for the occasional boofs and ruffs from the pups. Lily stared excitedly out the window the entire time, smudging her nose against the glass. Meanwhile, Sehun’s head was spinning with anxious thoughts, so much so that when he finally pulled into the parking lot, he thought he just may explode.

  
“Hey, Sehun!” Yeri chirped, sliding him his danish as soon as he approached the counter. “Jongin has today off, it’s Saturday.”

  
“Yeah, I figured.” Sehun shrugged, handing her his card.

  
“He gave you his number, right?” She smirked, handing his card back. “It’s all he could talk about after you left yesterday. You’ve texted him, yeah?”

  
Sehun gulped, face warming with the sudden heat of the room. “Uhm-uh, yeah totally.” Luckily, he was saved as his drink was called out, giving him an excuse to scurry away. He tried to ignore Yeri’s shit-eating grin as he scuffled out the door.

  
So what was going on with this giant conspiracy of Jongin & Everyone v. Sehun? Was it a ruse? Did the universe know Sehun had an itty-bitty baby crush (kinda) crush on Jongin? Was the universe in on a joke to make it seem like he liked Sehun back? “Ladies,” Sehun announced to the pups upon returning to their spot on the patio. “We need to have a serious discussion.”

  
He bent down, giving the three girls their whip before sitting in the wrought-iron chair beside them. “What am I to do?” He sighed. “Daffodil, you helped me last time. Can you use your powers again and help me out?”

  
Chicken Nugget looked up at Sehun from her cup, a dog-like scowl on her face.

  
“You’re right, girl. You did help me out this morning.” He admitted, reaching into his pocket. “And now I’ve gotta do something about it.” It was just a quick response; how bad could it really be?

  
_Sehun: sounds gay im in_

  
_Sehun: *great fuck_

  
_Sehun: you know what, im just gonna stop there._

  
Welp. That’s how bad it could be. Of course, the universe is out to smack him in the ass. Roundhouse him and suplex him off a building. Sehun was roughly ten seconds away from yeeting his phone into the path of oncoming cars in the drive-thru and never speaking to anyone again until the end of summer. To his horror, his phone buzzed back within a matter of seconds.

  
J _ongin Starbucks: well that’s a Freudian slip if I’ve ever seen one_

  
_Jongin: lol, but I’m glad you’ve decided to come tonight! I wanna keep my promise to you, to make your summer great and all_ 😉

  
Sehun nearly choked on his macchiato.

  
_Sehun: is there something in ur eye?_

  
_Jongin: lol, what do u mean?_

  
_Sehun: you keep winking at me. im unsettled._

  
_Jongin: lmaooo, well…I guess you could say there’s something in my eye_

  
Jongin was becoming a hazard to Sehun’s health. He couldn’t stand for this. He didn’t have to take this kind of torment.

  
_Sehun: shut the hell ur mouth_

  
_Jongin: is this how you treat your friends? I’m hurt sehun, truly……_

  
Sehun knew what he wanted to say, he just didn’t have the audacity to say it. Lily tapped her paw against Sehun’s foot, almost encouraging him. “Thanks girl,” He sighed. “But I just don’t know if I can yet.”

  
Baffled, Lily groaned, and bit Sehun’s ankle in defiance.

  
“Ow! I said not right now, not that I never would.”

  
The three pups stared at him, knowing full well how the situation would play out.

  
🐶

  
“Why me? Why is it always me that you come running to in the middle of a breakdown?”

  
“Because you are my Mother Mary coming to me in my times of trouble. You’re my Designated Breakdown Bitch.” Sehun explained, wedging his phone between his and ear and shoulder, sifting fervently through the wardrobe in his grandmother’s guest room for something decent to wear.

  
“Why can’t you just call me to ask me how I’m doing? How my day went? What Jongdae and I are up to? It’s always ‘Minseok help me, I’m a little bitch baby.’”

  
“You’re not wrong, but this bitch baby needs to not look homeless tonight, so shut up and put on your big boy pants and help me.”

  
“Fine,” Minseok sighed. “Let me switch over to video call quick…”

  
“Thank you,” Sehun hummed, switching the call over to video, placing his phone against his grandmother’s nightstand. “I was thinking this top and these pants? Does the green go?”

  
“Why didn’t you call your sister?”

  
“Because Sunhee isn’t a gay man?”

  
Minseok was quiet a moment before huffing, “Fine, yeah that works.”

  
“Can I see Vivi, please?”

  
“Sorry, I suddenly have a bad connection.” Minseok hung up.

  
Well, Sehun supposed he had that coming to him. “Okay, bitch.”

  
The rest of his evening was spent fretting. What shoes, he forgot to ask Minseok which shoes would go best. Well, it’s nothing his black Vans can’t fix. How should he fix his hair? Should he wear a beanie, would it even be cool enough for that?

  
_Fucking fuck it all to hell_ , Sehun thought. He was wearing a beanie, and he was wearing his black Vans. His outfit was fine, he was fine, everything was fine, and nothing was on fire.

  
Eventually enough, it was 7:30, and Sehun needed to be getting out the door. Frantically, he made sure he had his wallet, his phone, and the key to his grandmother’s front door before kissing each of the pups goodbye. “Wish me luck, ladies.” He sighed, stepping out of the door. “Uncle Sehun is gonna need it.”

  
It felt oddly empty leaving the house without the corgis.

  
As anticipated, the sidewalks were packed with tourists, the density increasing as Sehun made his way down the main drag. He wondered how Jongin and his friends were ever going to get a lane at the bowling alley at this hour. After nearly getting plowed down by a family of six outside the barbeque joint by the pier, Sehun made his way to the little alleyway where he remembered the bowling alley being. It was one of those hole-in-the-wall types of places one could easily walk past without ever realizing it was there.

  
“Sehun!” He whipped around, and sure enough, there was Jongin, leaning over the banister to the stairs leading into Pismo Bowl. Yet again, Jongin was dressed like a beach bum, donning an oversized hoodie, khaki shorts, canvas shoes, his hair poking out from under a beat-up old “CalPoly Mustangs Grandpa” trucker hat.

“Sehun, over here!” Sehun gave him a small wave, heading towards the concrete stairs to where Jongin stood. “How’s it going?”

  
“Pretty good,” Sehun shrugged. “I was almost taken down by a family back there, but I’m alright.”

  
“You’re so brave, coming all the way down here just to see little ol’ me,” Jongin smiled, wiggling his brows.

  
“Don’t flatter yourself,” Sehun rolled his eyes, a slight smile on his face. Cute.

  
“Well come on in, Baekhyun’s brother works here and saved a lane for us.” Jongin smiled, turning on his heel and leading Sehun inside. The opening to Pismo Bowl was a cheesy little arcade with the stereotypical 80’s style neon-on-black carpeting. Squeezed into a corner was a 50’s style soda bar, complete with black-and-white tile and red vinyl seats. Turning another corner, Sehun trailed after Jongin into the back of the building where a whopping seven bowling lanes awaited them. Unsurprisingly, they were all filled.

  
“Jesus, I think my apartment is bigger than this place,” Sehun joked.

  
“Yeah, it’s a bit small, but it has a lot of heart.” Jongin said, stopping at a lane in the back. “Guys, I found Sehun!”

  
There were two guys around Sehun and Jongin’s age waiting for them, booth already loaded with French fries, mozzarella sticks, and paper cups of soda. Both boys dressed similarly to Jongin-oversized shirts, shorts, and Birkenstocks.

The first boy had a round face, and Sehun almost swore he was about sixteen, what with his round eyes, small lips, and button nose. His hair was lightened brown, poking out every which way from a beanie, and he was wearing a brown t-shirt so large it literally looked like he was wearing a potato sack. “Oh, hey!” He grinned, his smile in direct competition with Jongin’s (though Sehun knew Jongin’s would come out on top anyway). “You’re the Sehun Jongin won’t shut up about!” Sehun’s face immediately set itself on fire.

  
“Baekhyun!” Jongin shrieked, running over to clamp a hand over his mouth. Bowlers the lane over turned to stare momentarily. The two tussled a moment before Jongin whipped his hand away in disgust, whining, “Dude, disgusting, there was no need to lick me!”

  
“It’s an honor, really,” Baekhyun continued, shoving Jongin away. “My name’s Baekhyun, but you can call me Bacon.”

  
“But, Baekhyun, you’re vegan.” The boy to Baekhyun’s right said, his confused and unbelievably chiseled face peeking out from his hoodie. Like seriously, Sehun thought you could probably slice bologna with his cheekbones. Carve a marble statue with his chin.

  
“Only when I’m sober, babe.” Baekhyun laughed, pointedly reaching across the table to swipe a mozzarella stick.

  
“Then why do you eat all my Morning Star corn dogs when you’re high?” The boy questioned, blinking, before turning to Sehun. “Hi, I’m Yixing!”

  
“Hi, nice to meet you guys,” Sehun said before awkwardly sitting down across from the pair. Jongin walked over to sit beside him, resting his feet atop the edge of the low table. “Baekhyun, you’re the one with the oral fixation, right?”

  
Baekhyun cackled, high laugh as highly pitched and loud as his natural voice. “Oh, hell yeah, of course I am.”

  
“That’s how our relationship’s lasted over two years,” Yixing shrugged with a smirk. _Oh._

  
“Guys, please, I really want Sehun to hang out with us again,” Jongin pleaded.

  
“Okie dokie, then let’s get this show on the road!” Baekhyun hailed, shoving another mozzarella stick into his mouth before standing and walking over to the touchscreen. “Jongin, your name is gonna be Bae-rista.”

  
“Baekhyun I swear-”

  
And so ensued a ten minute debacle in which Jongin became Bear-ista, Sehun became Doggy Daddy, Yixing became Weed, and Baekhyun insisted yet again on being called Bacon.

  
“What year is it? 2013?” Yixing asked. Sehun did not get the joke.

The fist round went about as planned. Each shot an embarrassing amount of gutter balls (except Sehun, who miraculously managed to hit four pins, thus earning an ear-piercing congratulatory yell from Baekhyun) before slinking over to the service desk to get bumpers put up.

  
After the bumpers were lifted, Yixing somehow managed to soar up the ranks to have a score of 387, with Jongin in second, Sehun third, and Baekhyun last, with a whopping score of 98.

  
“You see, if you really think about it,” Baekhyun said between bites of cold onion ring, “Maybe I’m really the winner here.”

  
“Explain,” Sehun questioned.

  
“Everyone else is so worried about how many pins get knocked down, but did the pins ever really ask for that?” Jongin and Yixing stared, blinking. “Look, I’m the only one out of us four that stopped and thought, in the grand scheme of things, what is the benefit out of all of this? What do the pins think of this? In life, am I a pin in a world of bowling balls?”

  
Jongin turned to Yixing, “Don’t let him smoke for the rest of the night.”

  
Yixing nodded, “Okay.” He looked lost.

  
“You’re just jealous you aren’t as enlightened as me.” Baekhyun shrugged, dumping the last crumbs of onion rings from the paper tray into his mouth.

  
“Well, I hate to say it, but I gotta go,” Jongin said, slipping his phone out of his pocket to check the time. “I have work at five tomorrow morning.” Shit, did this mean Sehun had to go, too?

  
“Laaame,” Baekhyun sang, flopping over onto Yixing’s lap.

  
“Hey, not all of us have rich parents that don’t make us work,” Jongin jested, nudging Baekhyun’s head.

  
“Sometimes I think I should be like Baekbeom and get a job just to hit on people,” Baekhyun mused. “Then I realize that’s for plebeians and I’d rather smoke weed and have gay sex all day instead.”

  
“You’re fucking weird,” Jongin sighed, standing up. “Want me to walk you out?” He suddenly asked, facing Sehun.

  
“Oh, uh sure,” Sehun stumbled, quickly standing up. “Bye guys, it was nice to meet you.”

  
“Later,” Baekhyun called, Yixing waving goodbye with a nod.

  
“I hope they didn’t freak you out too much,” Jongin said as the two walked out the door. “I know they can be a bit much sometimes.”

  
“I mean, they weren’t too bad, I guess,” Sehun shrugged.

  
“You’re saying Baekhyun wasn’t ‘too bad?’” Jongin asked, quirking a brow.

  
“I’m not implying that,” Sehun said. “I’m just saying it’s nothing I couldn’t handle.” Sehun turned the corner off the main drag, Jongin following suit. “Why are you following me?”

  
“Am I not allowed to walk you home?” Jongin asked with a slight laugh.

  
“Not saying that,” Sehun mumbled, his palms suddenly sweaty, mom’s spaghetti.

  
“Okay,” Jongin said with a tilt of his head. His stupid fucking cute head.

  
The rest of their walk was quiet, the only sounds the distant rumble of waves intermingled with crickets in the thin grass. Deep down, Sehun felt like he was about to pop.

  
“Well, here it is,” Sehun stopped on the sidewalk of his grandmother’s little blue beach cottage. “This is where I’m staying.”

  
“Cute,” Jongin smiled. “I like all the windchimes.”

  
“I had no say in them.” Sehun said.

  
Things were quiet again, for a moment, before Jongin asked, “Why are you acting so shy?”

  
“What are you talking about?” Sehun panicked.

  
“You know what I mean,” Jongin said with a slight grin. “You’ve been quiet pretty much the whole night. You’re not normally like that with me.”

  
Sehun didn’t know how to respond. “I…don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  
“I think you do,” Jongin said, taking a step closer. “You just don’t wanna say it.”

  
“Say what?” His heart rate was through the roof.

  
“That you like me.”

  
“Like you? What makes you-?”

  
Before Sehun could finish his sentence, Jongin’s lips were pressed against his, his hands cupping Sehun’s jaw. Sehun froze, in absolute shock, as Jongin kissed him, lips soft and chaste against his own.

  
“-think that?” Sehun finished in a daze as Jongin pulled away.

  
“I’m not wrong, am I?” Jongin asked, sudden worry present in his eyes. “I wasn’t reading into things too much?”

  
“No,” Sehun said quietly, shaking his head.

  
“Oh, thank god,” Jongin sighed, relaxing visibly. “I was about to be really embarrassed for a second.”

  
Sehun just grabbed his wrist, pulling him forward, and kissed him again.

  
🐶

  
“So he kissed you?” Minseok asked over the phone the next day.

  
“Yeah, it was kind of amazing, not to brag or anything.” Sehun responded

  
“So this means you’re not gonna call me in a Gay Panic anymore?” Minseok asked, relieved. “Thank god.” Sehun could hear his eyes roll through the receiver.

  
“Nah, I probably still will.”

  
🐶


End file.
